Which is The Real India?
It’s the time for India bashing in the west. At least that’s what seems to be the feeling one gets when one sees Danny Boyle’s film Slumdog Millionaire receive so many Oscar awards and when one hears about “The White Tiger” bagging the Man Booker prize!
India had become the toast of the world during the last 3-4 years and the entire world had been watching with growing interest the rise of the nation named India. In 2007, London School of economics inaugurated the India Observatory, which was a sort of acknowledgement to the fact that the world wanted to know more about India. I had the priviledge of being present at the launch and I am sure that, like me, most of the Indians who were present on that day at the Peacock theatre, would have felt proud.
So the world has started to research more about India and bring India out in front of the global population. And what is better than using cinema as the medium to spread the message! Am sure Danny Boyle had this in mind when he read the novel written by Vikram Swarup. I can imagine his thought process during the process of reading the book—India, the land of the poor, where corruption rules the roost, a land that is the production ground for the beggars, etc etc etc…
But hey! Wait a sec….Isn’t this what the world already knows about India? Isn’t it a known fact that India is a country where more than 80% of the population survives on a dollar a day? During my three month stay in London, one of the frequently repeated statement that I heard from the British people I interacted with was this that Indians could afford to keep servants to attend to their needs as labour was cheap. At LSE I learnt that survival of democracy in a poor country like India for so many years is a mystery because democratic model of governance is supposed to work only for the rich. Danny Boyle’s efforts at trying to reinforce this view of India before the world stage is probably nothing innovative, in my opinion. I am not going to be a critic for the film Slumdog Millionaire, simply because of the fact that I do not have enough experience on this. So if the jury of the Oscar found the film to be worthy of getting the Oscar award for the best motion picture, best direction, best song, etc, so be it! It is definitely a proud moment for India when one of its top music director gets the award for one of his creations, even though it may not be his best. It is a proud moment for us when we see a few of the millions of children living in the slums, become the centre of attention of the whole world! For these children, destined to live in poverty, the doors of opportunity has opened up and because of this film, we might see the poverty graph of India taking a miniscule dip for the time being!
Now let me draw your attention to another film that I chanced upon while surfing the TV last week. The film is named “OUTSOURCED” and is a film about Indian call centre in a place closer to Mumbai. Directed by John Jeffcoat and starring Josh Hamilton and Ayesha Dharkar, this film is about everything that is the Real India! It’s the story about an American company asking of their American employees to go to India and provide training to the employees of the call centre where the job would ultimately be outsourced to. The American comes and the story is a beautiful demonstration of how one can make oneself at home anywhere in the world, provided one learns to appreciate and respect the ways of life of their place of stay. As the famous saying goes, When in Rome do as the Romans do, Josh Hamilton goes through the entire gamut of emotions after coming to India, before finally getting to fall in love with the place! So one finds him shattered and depressed when he is told that he is needed in India, followed by the bewilderment that one is faced with when one sees so many people on the road jostling for space along with the traffic and the cows and the dogs. Then there is a scene about Holi and the film dwells on the beautiful aspect of this festival. For people living in Bihar, one knows what dangerous proportions this festival can take. But the beauty of this film is that unlike Danny Boyle, who chooses to depict everything that is negative about India, the film dwells on the positive aspects. So we have the American teaching the Indians ways of pronouncing word with an American accent and also learning the small facts that helps him to adjust to the Indian surrounding better. The film is a perfect depiction of all that the Indian woman stands for and how she is adapting to the changing times without compromising on her wants and desires.
The film also harps on the important points that Indians are known for in the west. Clever, flexible, adaptive, ingenious, never-say die attitude, religious, culturally inclined are some adjectives that the west probably know the Indians by.
This film depicts all this about India and more. I think the best way for a foreigner to deal with India has been summed up beautifully in this film.. ”You should not try to resist India. Once you give in, its much better.”
Would recommend all of you to see the film. It’s a film that you would like to see twice, thrice, without feeling bored. Despite the eight Oscars, I don’t think one would like to watch Slumdog Millionaire more than once!
India had become the toast of the world during the last 3-4 years and the entire world had been watching with growing interest the rise of the nation named India. In 2007, London School of economics inaugurated the India Observatory, which was a sort of acknowledgement to the fact that the world wanted to know more about India. I had the priviledge of being present at the launch and I am sure that, like me, most of the Indians who were present on that day at the Peacock theatre, would have felt proud.
So the world has started to research more about India and bring India out in front of the global population. And what is better than using cinema as the medium to spread the message! Am sure Danny Boyle had this in mind when he read the novel written by Vikram Swarup. I can imagine his thought process during the process of reading the book—India, the land of the poor, where corruption rules the roost, a land that is the production ground for the beggars, etc etc etc…
But hey! Wait a sec….Isn’t this what the world already knows about India? Isn’t it a known fact that India is a country where more than 80% of the population survives on a dollar a day? During my three month stay in London, one of the frequently repeated statement that I heard from the British people I interacted with was this that Indians could afford to keep servants to attend to their needs as labour was cheap. At LSE I learnt that survival of democracy in a poor country like India for so many years is a mystery because democratic model of governance is supposed to work only for the rich. Danny Boyle’s efforts at trying to reinforce this view of India before the world stage is probably nothing innovative, in my opinion. I am not going to be a critic for the film Slumdog Millionaire, simply because of the fact that I do not have enough experience on this. So if the jury of the Oscar found the film to be worthy of getting the Oscar award for the best motion picture, best direction, best song, etc, so be it! It is definitely a proud moment for India when one of its top music director gets the award for one of his creations, even though it may not be his best. It is a proud moment for us when we see a few of the millions of children living in the slums, become the centre of attention of the whole world! For these children, destined to live in poverty, the doors of opportunity has opened up and because of this film, we might see the poverty graph of India taking a miniscule dip for the time being!
Now let me draw your attention to another film that I chanced upon while surfing the TV last week. The film is named “OUTSOURCED” and is a film about Indian call centre in a place closer to Mumbai. Directed by John Jeffcoat and starring Josh Hamilton and Ayesha Dharkar, this film is about everything that is the Real India! It’s the story about an American company asking of their American employees to go to India and provide training to the employees of the call centre where the job would ultimately be outsourced to. The American comes and the story is a beautiful demonstration of how one can make oneself at home anywhere in the world, provided one learns to appreciate and respect the ways of life of their place of stay. As the famous saying goes, When in Rome do as the Romans do, Josh Hamilton goes through the entire gamut of emotions after coming to India, before finally getting to fall in love with the place! So one finds him shattered and depressed when he is told that he is needed in India, followed by the bewilderment that one is faced with when one sees so many people on the road jostling for space along with the traffic and the cows and the dogs. Then there is a scene about Holi and the film dwells on the beautiful aspect of this festival. For people living in Bihar, one knows what dangerous proportions this festival can take. But the beauty of this film is that unlike Danny Boyle, who chooses to depict everything that is negative about India, the film dwells on the positive aspects. So we have the American teaching the Indians ways of pronouncing word with an American accent and also learning the small facts that helps him to adjust to the Indian surrounding better. The film is a perfect depiction of all that the Indian woman stands for and how she is adapting to the changing times without compromising on her wants and desires.
The film also harps on the important points that Indians are known for in the west. Clever, flexible, adaptive, ingenious, never-say die attitude, religious, culturally inclined are some adjectives that the west probably know the Indians by.
This film depicts all this about India and more. I think the best way for a foreigner to deal with India has been summed up beautifully in this film.. ”You should not try to resist India. Once you give in, its much better.”
Would recommend all of you to see the film. It’s a film that you would like to see twice, thrice, without feeling bored. Despite the eight Oscars, I don’t think one would like to watch Slumdog Millionaire more than once!
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